Icy Strait Point, one of Alaska’s newest ports of call, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and that may not mean much. Certainly, more established tourist stops, like circa-19th-century Skagway and Juneau, would seem to have the historic advantage. But to our surprise, our first-ever visit to Icy Strait last week felt more historically layered […]

Until a recent trip to Bali, Indonesia, I thought my respect for nature was enough to keep me from turning into one of those crazy “I was attacked!” stories on Animal Planet. Turns out, you can run into problems with a port’s local wildlife, even if you’re cautious. I’ve long been an animal whisperer, and […]

A big blue tour bus with a capacity for some 60 people waited outside the pier for us — all five of us. We were three passengers, one crew member and one host. We were all volunteers for Crystal Cruises‘ You Care, We Care voluntourism excursion to the Feed Nova Scotia food bank in Halifax. […]

In the world of modern-day cruising, ships have become so large they’re often destinations in themselves. But there’s still something to be said for the places your ship will take you. That’s why we here at Cruise Critic have been mulling over what we think will be the top destinations to visit in 2013. After […]